GUNS Magazine May 2010 - Page 36

The Glock 34 and G22 Light/Laser. or personal defense, tactical use, and competition with a handgun, you might consider a pistol configured to meet all those needs. For personal defense, you might also want to add a light coupled with a laser without adding a lot of weight. For competition, you might want a relatively long sight radius. If all this is in your interest, you might consider Glock’s Model 34 and the Model 22 Light with laser. I did, and herein are a few things I found out about them. I’ve been shooting precision rifle matches for a while and for the pistol portion used a SIG P226. For several of those years, competitors were allowed to carry about anything they desired, some using IPSC race guns with greatly reduced loads. Some of those competitors were world-class shooters who were many times national and world champions. Over the last few years, however, this practice has been restricted because F Jacob Gottfredson The Glock 34 is relatively lightweight without the light. Part of the forward slide has been cut away, presumably to balance the pistol and reduce weight. One reason Jacob chose the G34 was the extended sight radius and 17-round double-stacked magazines. The Glock 22 light/laser with dimmer is shown mounted (below). Jacob ran 500 Blazer 115-grain FMJ (aluminum cased), Black Hills 124-grain JHP, and 124-grain JHP +P without cleaning the pistol. Another 50 + were shot in the match. There have been no malfunctions, and all three brands hit at the same point of aim in the bull’s center. neither law enforcement nor the military do or would carry such pistols. As a result, the push toward combat-style handguns was enforced. The SIG is a fine pistol and very accurate, but I thought another pistol, updated with a rail underneath would better fill my needs for these particular matches as well as my overall needs. The pistol events are actually a minor part of these precision rifle matches, better known as sniper matches. Some of the events are held at night in poor light. Thus I believed I needed night sights, a long sight radius, and a high-capacity magazine. Asking around and considering several new pistols from S&W, Springfield, Ruger, and others, I decided to try Glock’s new Model 34. It was designed and built to meet both tactical and competitive use. To use Glock’s terminology, it is tactical/practical and often used in IPSC stock matches. At the same time, with the addition of their Model 22 light/laser, it seemed a good self-defense weapon for home use. Upon receipt, I mounted the Model 22 light/laser and sighted the laser in. I proceeded to shoot 100 rounds using both the inexpensive Blazer 9mm 115-grain loaded in aluminum cases along with 124-grain Black Hills JHP and +P JHP loads. Using the iron night sights, I was happy to find all three shot to the same point of aim and centered in the bull. So much for adjustable sights. Using the laser, I had similar luck. The light/laser takes two CR-123 batteries and is extremely bright and projects the light a long way. It is a bit G34 Maker: Glock 6000 HiGHlands Parkway sMyrna, Ga 30082 (770) 432-1202 www.Glock.coM action tyPe: Locked breech semiauto caliber: 9mm caPacity: 17+1 barrel lenGtH: 5.32" overall lenGtH: 8.15" weiGHt: 32.79 ounces (loaded) FinisH: Tenifer GriP: Integral polymer retail: $679, night sights extra 36 WWW.GUNSMAGAZINE.COM • MAY 2010